History Note - Week of January 29th

The Livingston Enterprise, January 30, 1886

From Fridley.

FRIDLEY, JAN. 22, 1886 – Well, our old friend zero has been up in our vicinity for several days past, and one morning run us down to 20 below and quite frequently to 10, and we are very well satisfied he has been no harder on us. I learn that the thermometers froze up, or rather down, at Cooke City, the spirit thermometer going as low as 57 one morning last week.

The hunters in our vicinity have had quite a successful season for the past year. Mr. Black, our boss bear hunter, has killed the past twelve months about 25 bear, and John Counts and MacGuire about the same number. I hear that Horn Miller has trapped and killed about 75 beaver. Mr. Black has killed about 30 elk, besides quite a number of deer and mountain sheep. There was about 25 mountain sheep stood on an eminence one and a half miles back from my place last Thursday morning, looking down to see if I was well, I suppose.

Mr. Hobbs, from Cooke City, passed my place the other day and said business was starting up in good shape at Cooke. Gassert, Black & Co. are going to run the old Wills smelter at that place to reduce their ore and are confident of success. He said the new smelter they took on trial was too small for the business; that several veins of very rich ore had been struck recently, and everything goes to show the camp will be booming this year. If they can only get the railroad extended from Cinnabar they will be fixed. It does seem to me to be an outrage that the government should keep them hemmed, and no outlet to get their immense products of ore to market, for the reason that a little portion of the side of National Park has to be used for right of way, when at the same time anyone can get a lease of ten acres in the Park at any place to do what they please with. V.